Caption: USS Macon. Artwork of Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk fighters flying around their mothership, the US Navy airship the USS Macon. An inset shows a Sparrowhawk docked inside the airship, which could carry five of these aircraft. The USS Macon was 239 metres long, and was a rigid airship built in the USA by the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation. The gas used to provide lift was helium, with structure provided by rigid girders (shown in the various cutaway sections). There were eight engines, each driving a propeller on the side (three seen here). The USS Macon was launched on 21 April 1933, crashing on 12 February 1935.